Seahouses and North Sunderland : our friendly and useful community and trades website.
SEAHOUSES NEWS PAGE
COAST PATH RE-ROUTED
The section of the Northumberland Coast Path that links Seahouses village southwards to the golf course has long been cause for concern. Muddy in winter, the chief anxiety arose from the slippery edge immediately above the section of vertical (even overhanging) cliff down to Braidcarr beach. A fatality occurred in 2011. Meanwhile, the adjoining field, previously overgrown, has been civilised with the agricultural area ploughed: the cliff-side strip has been left as trimmed grass, albeit very tussocky. This now affords an altogether more satisfactory route for walkers.
SEAFIELD PATH IMPROVEMENTS
The Seafield Caravan Park is one of the major contributors to the commercial viability of the Seahouses community. It also has a policy undertaking to safeguard and improve its environment. The previously muddy pedestrian path along the National Trust grass area bordering the Seafield beach cliffs is being stabilised and improved. Dog-walkers and other local regulars will benefit, as well as tourist visitors accessing north beach. |
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NEW CEO AT OUR RESOURCE CENTRE
The North Sunderland and Seahouses Development Trust has a new Chief Executive Officer after a gap of several months following the move of Jon Riley to Holy Island. Ciara Van Vogt (say keera van vote) was originally a Beadnell lass: her previous posts involved commuting down to Newcastle to fulfill her roles in the charity sector. Now she just crosses the road to the Resource Centre in Main Street, Seahouses. The computer and VDU are inevitable tools for reviewing problems and resources: she is planning to carry the organisation forward through phases of continued needs in the face of budgetary constraints. |
A TAIL WITH A MORAL
If, like our reporter, you find a youngish seal 'stranded' high up on the shore there are several things NOT to do. Don't disturb it more than necessary. Don't assume that it's in trouble. Don't go anywhere near those teeth at the front end. Don't let your dog make its own enquiries!
This mid-January sunbather on Annstead beach south of Seahouses was perfectly OK and soon decided it was time to wriggle back down to the water. With minimal surf to overcome it was soon on its way, perhaps on the lookout for its elevenses snack.
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ICY SEA I SEE : -2°C
Seawater doesn't freeze outside polar regions. So what has happened on the golf-course beach south of Seahouses? Frosty nights in mid-January evidently allowed the Annstead Burn to ice over. Then an incoming tide broke up the ice while the burn flow carried the fragments out to sea. Then a light southerly breeze brought them ashore again to finish up on the high-water strandline. |
Not really a News item - more a Curiosity! Puffballs are normally brown balls, an inch or two across, growing among grasses or other small vegetation. So coming across a puffball that is twelve inches long, ten inches wide, and something like six inches deep just south of Seahouses village is curious, though not a significant rarity. The early, summer stage of a Giant Puffball, Calvatia gigantea, is like an irregular white football gradually turning brown with a leathery skin: its function in life is to split open after its whole body has turned into trillions (literally) of microscopic spores. From then on the slightest impact, even of raindrops, dispatches a cloud of them. If anyone is desperate to see it, hunt around at 55° 34' 33.33" N, 001° 38' 43.86" W, or be content to consult the details from Kew. |
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BARLEY FOR BEER PERHAPS?
After many years of total neglect and abandonment, the fields around the south-eastern edge of Seahouses are transformed! Lying between King Street and the sea cliffs, on three sides of the Northumbrian Water site, ploughing took place towards the end of November, as the first stage of preparations for a spring-time sowing of barley - marking a return of the area to useful productive agriculture. |
The GOLF BALL RECYCLING facility in aid of R N L I Lifeboats is in the Resource Centre, 62 Main Street, Seahouses. All contributors and purchasers welcome! |
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UP-COMING
The
GREAT NORTH BIKE RIDE is a charity event involving thousands - yes, thousands - of bike riders of all levels of ability. The starting point is Seafield in Seahouses, finishing at Tynemouth Priory and Castle. Full details are on
www.greatnorthbikeride.com. This year's event is on
SUNDAY 26th AUGUST.
Bank Holiday MONDAY 27th of AUGUST sees the annual
SEAHOUSES LIFEBOAT FETE with fundraising activities all around the seaward end of the village. Highlight of the day will, subject to service commitments, be an active demonstration coordinating use of the all-weather
RNLB Grace Darling, the inshore
Peter Downes, and the RAF
Rescue 131 helicopter, just offshore from the harbour.
Please tell us of any up-dates, corrections, or omissions. All our details are on the contact page.
